Some notes on how that patch creation process works: 1. Torch doesn't look at the files themselves, only at the metadata for them already captured in Windows Installer tables. In part because of this (but mostly because some other data that isn't likely to change is also needed when building the MSP) the output of torch used to build patches (produced using the "/p" switch) contains all data, not just the changed data. Pyro does the reduction of data down to just the changed items (it's also Pyro that does the file comparisons). Consider Torch output intended for Pyro to be intermediate data, not an indication of final output.
2. Source code Fragment membership (from the "upgraded" sources) is maintained through Torch into Pyro. *Refs under PatchFamily cause all changes in the same Fragment (or other similar "fragments", such as Product) to be included in the patch. To exclude those, you need to have the components you do not wish to include in a fragment that is not shared by anything referenced by the PathFamily. Note that if you do not have anything referenced, every change is in the patch. Conversely, if you do want some change to be included, reference something in its fragment. 3. Use a verbose log to determine why/when your property is being cleared/not set erroneously. Compare a verbose log from a non-patched installation and one from the patched one. Blair -----Original Message----- From: Aaron DeMarre [mailto:adema...@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 12:23 PM To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [WiX-users] Patch Creation Issues I should add that I get a very different output from torch.exe when I remove the files that are to be added in the patch. These files were added as components to the top level feature, which is always installed. However, I cannot see a pattern to what files are included in the .msp torch.exe outputs, some modified files are included, others are not. -Aaron On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 11:28 AM, Aaron DeMarre <adema...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello all, I am having some issues creating a patch and was hoping to get > some insight. > > I am using the "Using Purly Wix" guide here: > http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/wix_patching.htm and have created > many successful patches with this method. In this latest patch I am adding > two files, and now I am having issues with the process. I am using Wix 3.5, > torch.exe reports 3.5.2124.0. > > 1) The output from torch.exe does not appear to be correct, the .msp it > outputs includes a lot of files that have not been changed in years. I did a > binary diff on some of them, and there are no differences between the new > and old files. The component IDs did not change, and these are > unversioned help files. I cannot figure out when torch thinks they are > modified. > > 2) The inclusion of ComponentRefs in the PatchFamily of patch.wxs does not > seem to have any control over what is included in the .msp. I noticed this > some time ago in previous patches, but was actually thankful for this since > a file that needed to be updated was not included in patch.wxs but made it > into the patch. However, now a change in the default config file we ship > with the product is causing issues, and I want to specifically exclude this > file from the patch. It seems the patch is being made against the output of > torch.exe and the ComponentRef entries in patch.exe are being ignored > entirely. > > 3) Unrelated to the two issues above, the patches are clearing > the ARPINSTALLLOCATION property in the registry. I have this property set in > the installer as a custom action with the condition "(NOT Installed) AND > (NOT PATCH)" in order to prevent this. I am not sure if the custom action is > running on patches with a blank value for the ARPINSTALLLOCATION property, > or if my conditions are actually causing the property to not be set when it > should be set during a patch. Or if this is an issue with the patch itself, > and not the installer it is patching. > > Any help would be appreciated, especially on how to control (exclude) files > from getting into the patch. > > Thanks in advance, > Aaron DeMarre > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Protect Your Site and Customers from Malware Attacks Learn about various malware tactics and how to avoid them. Understand malware threats, the impact they can have on your business, and how you can protect your company and customers by using code signing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/oracle-sfdevnl _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Protect Your Site and Customers from Malware Attacks Learn about various malware tactics and how to avoid them. Understand malware threats, the impact they can have on your business, and how you can protect your company and customers by using code signing. http://p.sf.net/sfu/oracle-sfdevnl _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
